Glitterbomb
Glitterbomb (alternatively GlitterBomb) was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 8 of Robot Wars. It lost its Group Battle in its qualifying heat after the weapons system for its axe froze due to cold arena temperatures, leaving it unable to self-right after getting flipped by Dantomkia. It then qualified for Series 9, but was withdrawn due to being overweight and failing tech check, and it then completed filming as an unused reserve. Versions of Glitterbomb Glitterbomb (Series 8) ]] Glitterbomb was a pink, black and silver wedge-shaped robot armed with a pneumatic bladed axe, which swung at up to 120mph with 1.2 tonnes of force, and also allowed the robot to self-right from any angle. The robot was armoured in laser-cut Raex, and its shape was based on that of a stealth bomber. Glitterbomb was built by James Baker and designed by his daughter April, who was the team captain. The robot was built from scratch in four weeks, after April used the Robot Wars Wiki to search for inspiration with designs. The team also own Series 6-7 and Extreme 2 competitor Edge Hog, which was used to compare dimensions, and Edge Hog's axe mechanism was implemented into Glitterbomb's design due to time constraints. However, the vast majority of Glitterbomb was an original build, using no more than 15kg of Edge Hog's parts. The robot's mascot was a pink fluffy bomb with eyes and a mouth, one of which was given away as part of a competition on their Facebook page. Glitterbomb (Series 9) Glitterbomb returned to Series 9 using a pink and black colour-scheme, alternatively using the name Glitterbomb B. The robot's body-shape was now much flatter, to support its upgraded weaponry. The armour was titanium of varying thickness, with 3mm Raex in key places. The robot utilises side skirts and a front wedge. Its speed was also increased from 10mph to 25mph. Glitterbomb was armed with a twin set of axes. Each axe was powered by full bottle pressure CO2 and fires independently of the other. According to the team, each axe fires with 4000kg of force. The axes are 1200mm in length. Each axe head was custom made from titanium blocks, waterjet cut. The process of carving the axe heads took seven hours. As of February 2017, Glitterbomb weighed 110kg. One CO2 bottle has been removed, though that does not reduce the power. However, Glitterbomb was significantly overweight at its first tech check, weighing 122kgRachel Prince on the Unofficial Robot Wars Facebook page, only reducing its weight to 107kg after Glitterbomb had already been moved onto the reserve list. Robot History Series 8 Glitterbomb participated in Heat 3, facing Overdozer, King B Remix and Dantomkia in its first round. Glitterbomb entered the battle having not tested its axe, and it became clear before activate was called that a part was leaking, and the 10-15 minute delay in starting the battle meant that the leak and cold temperatures had a significant effect on Glitterbomb's axe. Glitterbomb was immediately rammed by Dantomkia in an attempt by the yellow machine to flip the newcomers- however, they were not able to get a properly-positioned flip in. Glitterbomb then attacked Dantomkia, with its axe landing two blows, though this caused no visible damage. The axe never returned to its neutral position after this, due to the cold weather freezing the liquid CO2 powering it. Glitterbomb used its wedge shape to overturn King B Remix, and pushed the immobile Overdozer into the arena wall, but Dantomkia flipped Glitterbomb over. Glitterbomb had enough gas to self-right from this attack, although it was backed into the arena wall by King B Remix in the process, and Glitterbomb's axe did not retract after firing. Left with no weaponry in an unoccupied CPZ, Dantomkia flipped it up against a corner. A combination of Glitterbomb's lack of gas and the positioning of the wall here meant that Glitterbomb was unable to right itself. This meant Glitterbomb was left immobile, ending its Robot Wars run. Glitterbomb was taken straight to the test arena after its battle, and proved to be in full working order, too late to make an impact. Series 9 Glitterbomb successfully qualified for Series 9, sporting a new design. It was intended to participate in the first heat of the series to be recorded - which was Heat 5 in broadcast order. However, the robot arrived overweight (approximately 122kg). Although the team eventually reduced Glitterbomb's weight to 107kg by removing one of its axes, Glitterbomb had already been moved onto the reserve list, and did not gain the opportunity to enter the arena. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 0 *Losses: 1 Series Record Glitterbomb_pits.jpg|Glitterbomb in the pits Glitterbomb Entrance.jpg|Front view of Glitterbomb with its team Glitterbomb.jpg|Official photo of Glitterbomb in Series 8 Glitterbomb_insides.jpg|The insides of Glitterbomb Glitterbomb_internals.jpg|Another shot of Glitterbomb's internals Glitterbombs.jpg|Both Glitterbomb robots with the team's featherweights Glitterbomb9axes.jpg|Glitterbomb's dual axes for Series 9 Outside Robot Wars Although Glitterbomb does not compete at live events, it made an appearance as a static display at Wales Comic Con, alongside Wheely Big Cheese. April also gave away autographs, beside the two robots. Around the time of the televised run of Series 8, April appeared on CBBC's Newsround, promoting robotics and the TV show. April was briefly the centre of her own series on YouTube, April's Techtalk, which reviewed episodes of Robot Wars. April was also interviewed in an online article for BBC News, in July 2018. In early 2018, Team Glitterbomb entered the Chinese TV show Clash Bots with a new heavyweight robot, Princess Of Wales, also known as Dragon Princess. Based upon the Welsh Dragon but painted pink, the robot used a conjoined weapon, connecting a front hammer and a rear lifter, also donning a decorative tiara. In its competition battle, it fought the Chinese flipper Atomic Bomb, and was quickly flipped over, but was righted by its Chinese opponent. It was able to lift Atomic Bomb briefly, but after being flipped again, Princess Of Wales could not self-right, and lost the battle. In two battles which were not aired on television, Princess Of Wales defeated the Chinese robot Bermuda Triangle and also the Team Danby entry Hyena. Trivia *Although Glitterbomb's VT would go unused on television in its entirety, various clips from it were used in the opening sequences of Series 8, such as April performing a high kick. *Glitterbomb is the first known instance of a robot being designed from information on the Robot Wars Wiki. According to team member Rachel Prince, April used the Wiki to determine what had been done by previous users and what colours and weapons looked best, before drawing initial sketches from that research.Private correspondence between Glitterbomb Facebook page and Toon Ganondorf, 9 August 2016 References External Links *GlitterBomb Facebook page *Glitterbomb Twitter *Glitter Bomb YouTube channel *[http://www.robotwars.tv/competitors/season-8/week-3/glitterbomb/ Glitterbomb on the Robot Wars website] *BBC News article on April's involvement with robotics Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots with Bladed Axes Category:Robots from Wales Category:Robots which debuted in Series 8 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 8 Category:Robots that forfeited a place Category:Robots that wore side skirts Category:Robots from Wrexham Category:Robots which lost their only battle Category:Teams which competed in Clash Bots Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Series 9